The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Erasing Israel from the Map

by Eileen F. Toplansky

The
denial of Israel's right to exist by erasing it from maps is a regular
component of Palestinian children's schoolbooks. In September 2011 the
official PA map of "Palestine" featured the PA areas and all of Israel (excluding the Golan Heights) wrapped in the Palestinian flag.

In 2009 the British airline, BMI "removed Israel from
the electronic maps displayed to passengers in some of its planes."
This was done to avoid offending Muslim passengers. Israel "does not
appear in maps on BMI flights between London and Tel Aviv, and Khefa,
the pre-independence Arabic name for Haifa, appears on the maps." A
spokesman explained that BMI makes "every effort to take passengers'
sensitivities into account through an apolitical policy."

In November 2012, activists with links to the Muslim Brotherhood and
Hamas came together for an American Muslims for Palestine's (AMP)
Conference for Palestine in the U.S.: A Movement United. The AMP "home
page depicts the conference logo-a map of Palestine made from birds showing the Palestinian state encompassing all of Israel."

Also
in November 2012, Flickr, a social photo hosting service, "decided to
remove the maps of Israel from its site." Flickr was contacted to
determine whether this was a technical glitch, but it was discovered
that Flickr map
services are actually powered by Nokia Maps which "also has Israel as
completely blank." In response to requests about the deletion of Israel
as well as Cyprus, the following statement was made

Nokia Australia has responded to CNET Australia's request for comment with the following statements in regards to mapping data in Israel and Cyprus.

Nokia
has the world's largest maps and navigation platform, with voice-guided
navigation for around 100 countries worldwide and maps available for
over 190 countries and regions. As per Nokia's long-standing policy, we
are committed to neutrality and impartiality with regards to political
issues. While we currently do not offer maps for Cyprus, we work hard on
refining and improving Nokia Maps continuously and make maps available
in as many countries and regions as possible. Because of these efforts
we are confident that we will be able to offer maps for Cyprus in the
coming months.

....In
order to guarantee our users the best experience when using Nokia Maps
we aim for the highest possible quality standards when offering our
service. Based on the available map data, we work hard on refining and
improving Nokia Maps continuously and make maps available in as many
countries and regions as possible. Because of these efforts we are
confident that we will be able to offer maps for Israel in the coming
months.

In August of 2011, outraged customers of the cosmetic giant Nivea
discovered that Nivea's international website failed to mention Israel,
but did list the "Palestine Territories." Only after pressure and when
Glenn Beck talked about it on the radio, did Nivea finally add the link.
In a "statement to The Blaze, the company said the link was originally
not there because the Israel site was under construction."

The latest example of texts wiping Israel off the map has occurred in Great Britain. Samuel Westrop asks
"[w]hy is the British Council, sponsored by the British Foreign Office,
endorsing a textbook that wipes Israel off the map and indoctrinates
students with anti-Western material?" Instead of showing Israel in the
textbook entitled Skills in English Writing, a map of Occupied Palestine is in its place. The book is published by Garnet Education.

In
fact, "Garnet Education is controlled by a Lebanese media empire owned
by pro-Syrian Arab nationalist Tahseen Khayat, whose daughter runs the
UK subsidiary companies, including Garnet Education." In addition, the
firm owns Ithaca Press, and firms named All Prints and The International Press. Ithaca has published Through Secret Channels written by Holocaust denier, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Garnet Education issued an apology for
its map depicting Israel as "Occupied Palestine" claiming it was a
"genuine mistake and in no way reflects any Garnet Education policy."

Of course, using textbooks as propaganda is nothing new. Hitler filled the minds of German youth with vile depictions of Jews in textbooks. And so it continues.

In
2007 it was discovered that the "King Fahd Academy school in London was
using textbooks encouraged by the Saudi Ministry for Education." These
texts describe Jews as "apes" and Christians as "pigs."

In fact, Dr. Sumaya Alyusuf,
the school principal, confirmed that she "recognise[d] these books" and
claimed that "these books have good chapters that can be used by our
teachers." She further insisted that the "books should not be scrapped,"
saying that allegedly racist sections had been 'misinterpreted.'"

Soeren Kern highlighted a 2010 expose of Saudi-run Muslim schools in Britain that aired on the prestigious Panorama documentary television
program showing that "Muslim religious schools operating in Britain are
using poisonously antisemitic textbooks from Saudi Arabia." One
textbook "asks children to spell out the 'reprehensible' qualities of
Jews."

And then we have Guardian
columnist Jonathan Steele who complains how "Iran's president was badly
misquoted when he allegedly called for Israel to be 'wiped off the
map.'" Steele maintains that what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really said was
that "the regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."
Steele credits Juan Cole with this translation.

blindly
anti-Israel to the point of being an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist,
an apologist for radical Islam, and someone who despises American public
opinion. Cole has supported the Israel divestment campaign by numerous American colleges, on grounds that Arabs are 'mistreated' by Israel.

Finally, Michael Rubin maintains
that "[p]erhaps one can quibble over how to render a translation
[but]...the Islamic Republic provides its own clarification. In its
official translations, it headlined Ahmadinejad's call to 'wipe Israel
off the map.'" Rubin asserts that

There
is a tendency among academics to feel they have to advocate for those
countries they study. They should not. Nor should they advocate for the
U.S. government. They should analyze dispassionately. But, ignoring or
burying evidence that reflects badly on a regime is more likely to
advance misunderstanding than advance rapprochement. It is time
academics and policymakers both deal with reality as it is, rather than a
sanitized version they would wish it to be.

The Wall Street Journaleditorial
of September 25, 2012, certainly, has no problem with understanding the
"intention of a final solution." They explain that "[i]n October 2005,
Mr. Ahmadinejad, quoting the Ayatollah Khomeini, said Israel 'must be
wiped off the map.' Lest anyone miss the point, the Iranian President
said in June 2008 that Israel 'has reached the end of its function and
will soon disappear off the geographical domain.'"